Stopped by Child Central Station today and saw that "What to do With it Wednesday" that she hosts.
I got inspired! But what to do with a crystal light container? Hmmm...
Leave it to my husband to be the creative one! We are going to have our first rain of the season tomorrow so why not make a rain gauge and measure it with Sam and Avery. I set him and Sam on the task of figuring out to make that happen.
Take a look at what they created!
The view looking down into the rain gauge.
Super simple to make. We took the crystal light plastic container, cleaned it and took the label off. My husbad grabbed the power screw driver, a piece of board, a screw and bathroom caulk.
They screwed the crystal light container onto the board from the top down. We thought we would need to caulk it to make it water tight but after several testings the caulk was not needed, it is holding water just fine (for now!). Then we used a marker and a ruler to measure out five inches on the side of the container.
The whole thing is very light, small and simple. Sam is excited to set it out in the morning to see how much water we can collect!
So, that is what WE did With it Today!
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The Nitty Gritty!
There are obviously lots of learning that can occur with this. Sam is just starting to recognize numbers so I am excited for the counting and numbers aspect of this. Once we get a little bit more into actual spring (and not this fluke mid-Februar thaw!) I may even incorporate some recording of rain falls over time on a chart or something. Maybe adding that to our weather chart.
I am thinking that caulk might be needed at some point or needed depending on what kind of screw that you use. But only use a small amount so as to not mess up the accuracy of the measuring too much.
What would you do with a plastic cylinder, crystal light-type container?
What a great idea!!!
Posted by: Kara | 02/16/2011 at 06:38 PM
I love it! I'm glad you were inspired :). I think we have about 50 or so of these containers. My husband loves to drink the stuff and I'm always looking for new ideas to reuse instead of recycle. I know my little ones here will love this idea too!
Posted by: Amy A | 02/16/2011 at 06:42 PM
Great idea to keep the rain gauge upright. We tend to surround it with stones or digg a slight hole.
Just a thought - if the hole does become an issue, you could always put a slightly narrower container in there and use that as the rain collecter and the orignal one to keep it upright.
Those containers,maybe cut down a bit, arranged in a row might make a great bird feeding station. Maybe a hole in the side for easy seed reach. Just add bird seed and water.
Posted by: Cheryl | 02/17/2011 at 03:59 AM
Sorry to "rain on your parade", but don't you have to take into consideration the diameter of the container to accurately measure the volume of rain? Great idea...I love the base!
Posted by: Tami S | 02/17/2011 at 11:31 AM
This is so fun! I bet L would get a kick out of it.
Posted by: gina | 02/17/2011 at 04:43 PM
That is awesome! Loving that rain gauge. I would have never have thunk it!
Posted by: Angela | 02/18/2011 at 06:38 AM